First-Timer Tips

The Porcupine Freedom Festival is a uniquely fun and entertaining camping experience. Each year many people come to their first PorcFest. Here are some tips to newcomers from PorcFest veterans:

Clothing

PorcFest is held in the mountains at an elevation of ~2K feet. It can be 90° and sunny one minute, and raining the next. Prepare for all weather, and activities. Pack these things to be prepared.

Rain gear – poncho, umbrella, and spare dry shoes

Warm clothes for when it’s cold like a jacket, sweatshirt, warm hat, etc.

Cool summer clothes for when it’s hot

Sun protection – sunscreen, hat, sunglasses

Swimsuit for the pool, and hot tub

Workout clothes – Others will be working out, playing sports, or doing yoga. You can too.

Costumes for parties

Footwear

Sandals

Flip Flops for shower

Sneakers

Boots

Camping

Choose your noise level. Campsites closer to Agora Valley and the Pavilion will be louder later into the night. If you prize your quiet time or have small children, pick a campsite further away from the central meeting places.

Pack for camping: soap/shampoo, a towel, and flip flops for the showers. Roger’s does have laundry facilities and a mini-convenience store, if you need to take care of errands mid-week. Also, wool socks can be handy on cool nights. If this is your first time camping for an extended period, be sure to read a camping FAQ or two.

Bring Food. Even though most meals can be purchased on the grounds – the food you want is not always available at the time you want it. Early in the week, and late at night there are fewer vendors open. Late in the week some vendors may run out of food. At least bring some back-up meals, snacks, and some beverages for yourself, and to share.

Share a campsite – the best way to find someone to share a campsite/room with is through the PorcFest Facebook group.

Socialize

Talk to people. People are friendly, and want to help. If you have a question, post in the PorcFest Facebook group or email info@PorcFest.com. By the end of the festival, you’re going to have a bunch of new friends, so there’s no reason to be shy.

Volunteer! If you have a specific talent or just want to help out, getting involved is a great way to get quickly integrated with the community.

Be a vendor. If you want to sell some goods, or ideas contact the vendor coordinator. Be warned that being a vendor means you may not be able to attend many events at PorcFest.

Technical

Cell phone reception/coverage The most reliable cell carrier at Roger’s is Verizon, but any service can be limited given the remote location, variable weather, and number of users. Some people may experience no cell coverage at the festival.

Internet Access is extremely limited during PorcFest. Roger’s offers wifi as an additional charge, but this connection quickly becomes slow as more users come online. Don’t expect to upload any videos during the week.

Paying with cryptocurrency Given the technical hurdles of limited internet access don’t rely on cryptocurrency as your sole means of payment. Some people have set up cryptocurrency only networks in Agora Valley in previous years, but it is unknown whether this will happen again. That said, many people have spent plenty of cryptocurrency at PorcFest so be sure to have some bits in your wallet before you come, along with a few pieces of silver and FRNs as backup payment.

Other

Best days to go for family, or single person: The festival is great every day, but the crowd grows larger each day. Many people will arrive the weekend before PorcFest, and more will arrive each day after that. If you want to avoid the intense crowd plan on leaving by Friday morning. It’s also easier to meet people if you arrive early in the week since all the other newcomers will be looking to meet you as well. :)

Don’t go overboard. Yes, it’s a festival, but it’s also a conference and a vacation for many families. There is little tolerance for conduct unbecoming a porcupine. There will be volunteer security prepared to deal with unruly attendees.